Hey, SeaJade here. So, here is another chapter and I really hope you enjoy it! Just as some background, a bit of time has past since the previous chapter so heads up.

Well, please R and R!

I woke before the sun had crossed the horizon. I cleaned myself and dressed I in my servants' garb as to be clean in the presence of the emperor. I had been summoned to an audience with the emperor August for reasons I did not know, but nevertheless I had to go. As I walked the same hallway which I had walked for the past ten years, my mind raced, imagining every possible reason as to why I was summoned.

Did I do something wrong? Had I displeased lady Akali in some way? I couldn't think of an answer to those questions so I forced myself to stop lingering over such thoughts. I reached the large door and took a deep breath, calming and mentally readying myself for the audience. I knew the emperor never called anyone into a private audience without just reason, at least to the extent of my knowledge.

Two guards were stationed in front of the door, silent and unmoving. I walked up to them, "Greetings, I have an audience with the emperor."

"Name," One of them commanded.

"Guy," I said, "retainer and friend of her lady Akali."

The guard who spoke nodded, "You may proceed."

I gave three quick knocks on the door before hearing a muffled "enter". I followed the voice's commands and pushed the door open only far enough for me to squeeze through, and let the door close softly behind me.

I walked forward and knelt before the emperor, "Greetings your greatness."

My head was bowed, but I knew that even if I raised it, I would not see the kind face of the emperor that was in my memories. A vail separated the emperor and myself so that only a faint outline of a figure could be seen. Why such a vail was present eluded me, but I had been taught better to question the actions of royalty.

"Raise your head," August commanded, "and speak freely for I have taken effort to assure that we are alone in this room."

I raised my head, "Yes, sire."

I saw the emperor's figure shift as to rest his head in his hand, "What I am about to tell you will remain between the two of us."

"Yes sire," I said my curiosity growing, but patiently waiting for emperor August to continue.

"As you know," August began, "My son, Shen, was wed to princess Lux of Demacia two years ago. This was to aid in relations with our neighboring county."

I nodded, still not sure where he was going with all of this, "Yes, I remember. Akali was grieved at her brother's departure."

Although I couldn't see, I had no doubt that the emperor gave a small, sad smile at that information, "Yes, those two were quite close." The emperor paused for a moment and then continued, "Well, the reason I called you here is to inform you that I will be leaving Ionia soon."

"Your greatness," I exclaimed, "why? What does this have to do with Shen and our relations with Demacia?"

August let out a sigh, "Well, ever since we allied ourselves with Demacia, tensions broke out among the nations. Noxus, a long-time rival of Demacia, had viewed this alliance as a threat and has since been seeking alliances with other nations to bolster their forces."

Suddenly it dawned on me, "War."

"Yes, Guy," the emperor confirmed, "the motion of war has been brought up in the past, but never seriously acted upon. However, this time, Noxus and her allies have begun to mobilize on Demacia's borders as if preparing to invade. As such, Demacia has called upon her allies to come to her aid and thus, I must answer the call."

"Emperor August," I said, "surely you can send someone else in your stead. Ionia need not be deprived or her ruler!"

"Who would I send Guy?" The August asked, "the queen? She is far too ill and knows nothing of war. Akali? She is still much too young to be exposed to something like this. The noblility? No, I would not trust them with a matter such as this. They are politicians, not warriors."

"What of Duke Zed," I asked, "he is well known for his prowess on the battlefield. Surely he could go in your stead."

"Duke Zed," August mulled over the name, "Guy, listen to me. Duke Zed has volunteered to come with me, and I doubt this is due to his love for Ionia. There are mysteries surrounding Zed that I do not have an answer for, and as such, I will keep him close. Close so that I may keep an eye on him. Be wary of Zed, Guy, he knows far more than he lets on."

I bowed my head, displeased and confused with the turn of events, but there was nothing I could do to prevent them.

"Guy," the emperor said a little more softly, "I know this is not a favorable turn of events but it is due to them that I come here to request something of you. Remember, this is not an order, but a request from a father. Please take care of Akali while I am gone. She and Shen are more precious to me than all the fine jewels in the world. Over these past ten years I have seen you become a true friend to my daughter, and now I ask you to protect her. Watch over her in my stead."

"Yes, your greatness," I said, "I will watch over her and be the best retainer I can possibly be, and be the best friend to her that I can possibly be."

"Thank you, Guy," August said, "I know I leave her in capable hands. To make your life easier, I have two things to give you. First a piece of advice: I can see many barriers in the path ahead of you. Make sure to always do what is right, even if may be the incorrect thing. Second, I have this. It only works once so use it wisely."

At that, August held out a folded piece of paper form behind the vail. I stood up and received it form his hands, "What is this?"

"That is a paper which bears my royal seal," Emperor August explained, "it will allow you to make one decision. One decision which will have the weight of the emperor of Ionia behind it. Reveal this letter to the nobility and they will have no choice but to follow it. I must stress to not use this lightly. Truthfully, it would be most desirable if you do not have to use this at all."

Suddenly, the paper in my hands felt quite a lot heavier, "Emperor August, I cannot accept this! I am simply a retainer-"

"Guy," August interrupted, "what is the difference between an emperor and a servant?"

"Status and power," I said hesitantly.

"Indeed, and that is all there is," August said, "Both you and I are humans, and as humans we are bound to do both great things, and bad things. I trust that if the situation comes and you are forced to use my seal, you will use it for a great cause and not a bad one. If the past ten years have taught me anything about you, it is that you're a kind boy and one mature well beyond his years."

I bowed my head, "Thank you for the most gracious complement."

August laughed, "Although, if I had one complaint, it would be that you might be a little too straight-laced at times. Even though I know you won't, ease up a little. Don't take everything too seriously."

"If it is your will," I said, head still bowed.

"See, that's what I mean!" The emperor sighed, "Nevermind. Guy, remember what I told you and remember, this conversation shall remain between the two of us, not even Akali is to know."

"Yes, your greatness," I said.

"You are dismissed. Oh, and one more thing."

I turned to look at the emperor.

"Have fun today," he said with a smile.

I walked out of the throne room, past the two guards and down the long hallways of the castle, the emperor's words replaying over and over again in my mind. The paper in my hand getting heavier and heavier with each step. As I stepped into the outside courtyard, the sun had just rose above the distant mountains, casting a golden glow across the ground. From experience, Akali would be up soon and I would have a full day. I headed back to my room and immediately opened a hidden drawer from my desk.

The desk was a gift from a master craftsman to Akali, who didn't like the smell of the wood and was thus passed onto me. Every once and awhile I would stumble upon a hidden or secret drawer in the desk, each empty but adding to the wonder of the gift. I slipped the emperor seal inside the desk and closed it up, vowing to myself that I would never use the gift, unless it became the only way to save the life of the one I served, Akali. Using it selfishly would betray the will of emperor August.

I had just finished closing the drawer when a quick series of knocks hit my door. "Guuuuuuyy!" a voice cried.

A small smile spread across my face, more of a smirk actually. Akali had arrived. I walked over to the door, and opened it only slightly, just enough for me to see the person outside, "I'm sure that the nobility of Ionia would not be caught dead in servant's quarters."

"I was too excited, I couldn't help it!" Akali said, "you do remember what day it is today, don't you?"

"A Thursday?" I answered.

"No!" she exclaimed, "well, yes, it is, but that's not the point! Today is the tenth anniversary of our friendship! Ten years!"

"Has it been that long already?" I asked knowing full well that it had been that long.

"You can't remember anything, can you?" she asked, "nothing important at least."

I opened the door further until I was the only thing blocking entrance into my room, "I'll have you know that I finished with the highest marks of Miss Agatha's tutorage. She even went as far as to say that I-"

"-was the brightest student she had ever come across all her long years of teaching," Akali finished, "yeah, yeah, I've heard that one a thousand times! That' all she talked about nowadays, how good of a student you are. If you're so good, why can't you remember the important things like today? I bet you don't even remember what my birthday is."

I scoffed at the notion, "Oh course I know when your birthday is, it's….uh…Mar-"

"April."

"That's what I was saying, April s-seven-nine—third."

"It's the twenty-second."

"Exactly what I said."

"You're unbelievable."

Akali turned around and crossed her arms, which I found quite funny, "really, you're pouting? Aren't you a little old for something like that?"

Akali faced me, "that's right, we're fifteen now and to show you how much more mature I am than you, I will offer you a chance at redemption. You must skip your training today and accompany me to the market. It is the Blood Moon festival today and I want to experience the festivities."

"You know we can't do that," I said adopting a more serious tone, "heading past the palace walls has been forbidden except on special occasions. Plus, I don't really want to skip training, I'm going to learn a new technique today. Here's what we should do, we stay here, I'll perform my duties as your retainer, you perform your duties as royalty. Isn't there a financial meeting today? Those are skills which you need to master."

Akali looked down, "Hmmmm, nope. Good try though. I already got permission from father yesterday to leave palace grounds if I took a guard with me. Grandmaster Jax already gave his consent to let you take the day off of training as well as his acknowledgement that you were fit to serve as both my retainer and body guard while we are shopping. Basically, you are coming with me whether you like it or not, even if I have to order you to."

I opened my mouth and closed it again, trying to find a hole in her argument. The emperor's 'have fun' finally made sense now. After a few seconds passed, I sighed in defeat, "Fine, you win. Just don't leave my side. It dangerous for royalty outside of the castle."

Akali put her hands on her hips," What? You don't think that I can protect myself?"

"No, but if anything did happen to you, my head would be on a silver platter before tomorrow morning." Indeed I did not doubt Akali's ability to protect herself. She had been trained in Ionia's sacred art of ninjutsu. Wielding dual kama, the symbol of female Ionian royalty, I knew just how deadly Akali could be, armed or not. However, that did not change the fact that despite her skills, she had no practical application of her abilities, something that I learned could matter more than the skill difference between oneself and opponent.

Akali "tsk'd" but didn't argue. She turned around and started walking towards the castle entrance. I followed her, matching her pace two steps behind. "What are you doing back there?" she asked.

"It is not fit for a mere retainer to walk on equal footing with someone with a status such as yours," I replied calmly.

"Get to my side right now," Akali said, "such action will only bring more attention to the two of us. We need to blend in and act as the common folk would. "

I didn't say anything but I allowed my actions to speak for me. Taking a few steps forwards, I positioned myself to the side of my master. I looked down to her and although she didn't look back up, I could see the faintest smile on her face.

Once again, we began to walk, the guards already informed of Lady Akali's departure as they did not try to stop us as we left the castle grounds. The large castle was actually surrounded by the town on three sides. So, as soon as we left the castle, we found ourselves on busy streets, people rushing this way and that, moving on with their lives.

Akali boldly walked forwards, her face passive, but her eyes giving away the wonder that she felt. It came as no surprise to me though, as Akali had never left the castle grounds before this moment.

"Are the streets usually this crowded?" Akali asked me.

"I cannot say for sure" I answered, relying on my limited experience of the town, "I haven't left the castle grounds that many times, but this is definitely the most crowded I've ever seen. Perhaps this has to do with the Blood Moon Festival."

"Hmm."

Akali continued walking, but made her way to the side of the road, where it was considerably less crowded. The streets were littered with red and white decorations, hanging from houses, shops, stalls, and pretty much any structure that could hold a decoration. The people were dressed up in similar color garb, long flowing kimonos with splashes of blue and green mixed in. As we walked, we saw an elderly lady, surrounded by children looking at the woman's wares.

"-and this mask is said to be the one that the Blood King took from the Shrine of the Moon," the elderly lady said while holding up a mask. The mask was white, with red and blue markings forming a mysterious face. "When the Blood King took the pure white mask of the Shrine of the Moon, the mask was corrupted and the horns and antlers that you can see here grew. With the power of the mask, the Blood King became like a demon, both terrible and powerful."

We had stopped to listen to the woman's tale, Akali hanging on every word that the woman spoke. "As the Blood King grew in power, he took the name the Blood Moon Lord, and with the power of his mask, gave other masks to his most loyal followers, giving them similar powers. However, legend has it that he challenged the most powerful Clan of them all, the Children of Arclight. Despite his followers and demonic powers, the Blood Moon Lord fell to the Children of Arclight's leader, the Chosen of Arclight."

"They say that their battle raged on for a whole month, until the Chosen of Arclight's ultimate magic took effect. You see, when the Chosen of Arclight learned of the left of the Mask of Moon, she prepared a magic that would hide the moon from the earth, cutting off the masks power. So, when the moon vanished, the Blood Moon Lord could not compare to the power of the Chosen of Arclight and was defeated, peace being resorted to the land. However, the mask was lost in time, only to show up here and now."

The elderly lady placed the mask down in front of the children, who looked at it with wonder and awe. I could see one child in the front, trying desperately to hold himself back from touching such a priceless treasure.

"Guy," Akali said, "do you think-?"

"No," I quickly said. This was the problem with sheltered children, much too gullible. "No, she probably made the story up last night, in fact, I wouldn't even be surprised if she tried to sell the thing."

As if on cue, the lady spoke up once more, "That's why, for right now, I will offer you a chance of a lifetime. For only 2000 Gold, not only will I give you the mask, but also a set of clothes said to be identical to those of the Blood Moon Lord's followers."

Bingo, there it was.

The children all ran to where their parents were standing short steps away, faces turned up and eyes widened to sizes of adorable cuteness, all of them asking to buy such legendary items. I gave a small chuckle and looked back at Akali, only to find her with an identical look on her face, cute and all.

"No," I said firmly, "2000 Gold is way too expensive for such items."

Akali made a face unfit for royalty but I ignored it. I started to walk ahead, only to have the old lady reach out and grab me by the arm. "Young man, are you sure you don't want to buy this and help and old woman out? We've fallen onto hard times you know."

"Sorry ma'am," I said, "but if you are that in need of money, do your children or husband not work to provide for you?"

"Oh, the old man does his best," the lady said solemnly, "and I'm sure my child would if he were still with us."

I immediately felt guilt, "I am sorry. I did not know."

"No," the woman said with a wave of her hand, "it's nothing. I know he is still alive, somewhere out there…I just wish I could see him again. I'm sure he would look a lot like you."

I bowed my head in respect for my elder, "I am sorry to bring up such painful memories. Akali, let's-"

My master had vanished.

"Idiot!" I berated myself. I turned to the woman, "did you happen to see where the lady I was here with went?"

The woman looked up, a small, sly smile growing up on her face, "Indeed I did."

"Which way did she go?"

"Buy the mask and I will tell you."

"I don't have time for this! Which way?!"

The lady just smiled and held out her hand. I really didn't have time to argue. I reached into my pockets and found approximately 1200 Gold within them. "I only have 1200, will you accept this?"

The lady thought for a moment before holding out her hand. I placed the money in her open palm and handed me the mask and clothes. "The young lass got swept away with the crowd in that direction." She said pointing to the right, a direction that led deeper and deeper into the town.

I grunted, stowing the clothes and mask away in my garb, and began to ran in the direction the lady pointed, pushing aside people as I went. I heard the lady call out after me, "I hope you find your girlfriend!"

"I wouldn't have to find her if it wasn't for you in the first place," I muttered to myself. I kept pushing my way past people, but the crowd was huge, finding Akali in this place would be near impossible.

"Ah, the Emperor if going to kill me!"

I kept pushing myself forward, pausing only to jump up and look around the crowd for any sign of Akali's long, black hair. I kept myself towards the side of the road. Akali may lack experience of the outside world, but she was far from being dumb. I had no doubt that she would stick as close to the sides of the road as she could.

My search continued for several minutes, my panic growing steadily with each passing second. I couldn't let it out though, as then I would have no chance of finding Akali. I ran past an alleyway and form the corner of my eyes I thought I saw a flash of green, the color that Akali was wearing. I stopped and looked down the alleyway. It was dim, but I could clearly see Akali at the other end.

"Akali!" I shouted, but if she heard me, she didn't give any response.

"Akali!" I shouted again, running down the alleyway.

Akali didn't move, she just stood there, frozen. I picked up my pace, not knowing what was wrong but by the time I reached her, I realized that there was nothing wrong, there was something completely right.

Akali stood at the bank of a beautiful pond, the morning sun casting a golden glow over the surrounding area. It was strangely quiet, the buildings acting as a natural sound barrier from the bustling streets not 100 feet away.

A cherry tree loomed over the peaceful pond, blossoms beginning to fall, signaling the beginning of a new season. A green, luscious park was wrapped around the pond. The only words to describe such a sight was beautiful.

"Beautiful, isn't it," Akali asked.

"Yes, it really is." I agreed, "I'm glad I didn't lose you."

"Me too."

Time passed as we stood there, side-by-side, watching the wind blow gentle ripples in the pond. Eventually however, we both tore our eyes away from the sight.

"I want one in the castle," Akali said, "but I know that would then ruin the wonder of this experience."

As I said, Akali was definitely not a dumb person.

As we made our way, back to the streets, the mood of the crowd found us and the serenity of the pond was not forgotten, but put behind us. As our day continued, I began to genuinely enjoy the festivities. From the food to the dancing, the energy of the people surrounding us enveloped me and my spirits lifted to an all-time high. Here, I didn't have to stand with a straight back, careful of every word I said, every action I did. Here, I could laugh, shout, joke and dance, and no one would think lowly of me for it. I could see Akali caught up with the mood of the festival too. A smile wide on her face, we talked more openly, not as vassal and servant, but as friend to friend.

So, as I promised, it is a little longer than the last one. The ending may seem kind of abrupt but just roll with it please. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this!

Ciao,

SeaJade